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Kodak to Issue Its Own Virtual Currency: DealBook Briefing
Good Tuesday. Here’s what we’re watching:
• Kodak plans to create its own virtual currency.
• President Trump plans to attend the World Economic Forum.
• Just how rich is Jeff Bezos?
• The shine is coming off the tech industry more and more.
• Talk of an Oprah presidential run has boosted at least one company.
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Kodak gets in on cryptomania.
Shares of Kodak surged 34 percent after the company said it said it was launching a “major blockchain initiative.”
The company and WENN Digital announced the creation of KODAKOne, an image rights management platform, and KODAKCoin, a virtual token “to allow photographers and agencies to take greater control in image rights management.”
“For many in the tech industry, ‘blockchain’ and ‘cryptocurrency’ are hot buzzwords, but for photographers who’ve long struggled to assert control over their work and how it’s used, these buzzwords are the keys to solving what felt like an unsolvable problem,” said Jeff Clarke, Kodak’s chief executive.
Erik Holm of MoneyBeat writes:
“For the past several years, people have been experimenting with ways to adapt the technology behind bitcoin, usually called blockchain. At its essence, blockchain is an open record of transactions, maintained in an online ledger that is distributed across a network of computers, that cannot be tampered with. That makes it like an indelible timestamp, which could be useful in a case of copyright and digital rights management.”
Kodak plans to hold an initial coin offering for KODAKCoin on Jan. 31. Coin offerings, which allow companies to raise money by creating their own private digital currency through a form of online crowdfunding, have surged in popularity during the past 12 months.
Kodak’s shares are just the latest to get a digital currency boost. The stocks of a number of companies have surged in recent months after those firms rebranded themselves as having something to do digital currencies or blockchain.
Critic’s corner: Kodak is “betting its future on digital currencies with an initial coin offering designed to help photographers sell their work. The crypto buzz more than doubled its stock, but it’s unlikely to do anything like the same to the company’s sales or profit,” writes Tom Buerkle of Breakingviews.
— Stephen Grocer
Carlos Ghosn ups the ante.
The chief executive of Renault-Nissan has escalated the auto industry’s technology-driven arms race.
The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance said Tuesday it is setting up a venture capital fund to invest $1 billion in automotive technologies over the next five years. Mr. Ghosn pushed for the fund “to speed development of technologies that the three automakers don’t have in-house,” the WSJ reported.
More about the fund:
• It’s named Alliance Ventures.
• Francois Dossa is leading the fund and will have teams in Silicon Valley, Paris, Japan and China looking for startups in which to invest.
• The fund has already invested in Ionic Materials, a Woburn, Mass., startup working to develop solid-state batteries.
Automakers have poured money into automobile technology startups in recent years. General Motors bought Cruise Automation in a deal potentially valued at more than $1 billion. Last summer Toyota set up a $100 million investing arm called Toyota AI Ventures.
“The traditional auto industry model based on individual ownership is threatened by pay-per-use services such as Uber, as well as ride- and car-sharing platforms, a challenge heightened by parallel shifts towards electrified and self-driving cars.”
Bannon is stepping down from Breitbart.
Stephen K. Bannon is stepping down from his post as executive chairman of Breitbart News, the company announced Tuesday.
Mr. Bannon’s departure, which was forced by a onetime financial patron, Rebekah Mercer, comes as Mr. Bannon remained unable to quell the furor over remarks attributed to him in a new book in which he questions President Trump’s mental fitness and disparages his elder son, Donald Trump Jr.
Mr. Bannon’s departure from the website is the latest ignominious turn in a career that was once one of the most promising and improbable in modern American politics.
Donald Trump is going to Davos.
Here’s what White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Maggie Haberman and Michael Shear of the NYT:
“At this year’s World Economic Forum, the president looks forward to promoting his policies to strengthen American businesses, American industries, and American workers.”
He’ll be the first U.S. president to do so since Bill Clinton in 2000. The BBC previously noted that Ronald Reagan spoke to the crowd at the World Economic Forum via videoconference, but that neither of the Bushes nor Barack Obama attended. (Joe Biden did, however.)
Why? As the NYT adds, presidents have been concerned that being seen rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s wealthiest might send the wrong political message. (Other heads of state, like Xi Jinping of China, have attended.)
One additional note: Having attended the forum a few times, I’d say that one thing that a visit from Mr. Trump would definitely do is make the traffic in Davos during the event — which often moves at a glacial pace as V.I.P.’s vehicular escorts crawl through the windy streets — probably more difficult.
— Michael J. de la Merced
Putting Jeff Bezos’s wealth into perspective.
Shot: “Jeff Bezos is now the richest person of all time,” CNN reported. (The Bloomberg article that the news item cited makes no such claim.)
Chaser:
— Michael J. de la Merced
The tech reckoning is gaining steam.
Let’s count the ways:
• Apple is being pressed to protect young users from smartphone addiction by an unusual coalition: the hedge fund Jana Partners and the California public pension fund Calstrs.
• Alphabet, Facebook and Twitter are under scrutiny over Russia’s use of social media to manipulate elections.
• Amazon is facing scrutiny for its effect on jobs.
• Europe is examining many U.S. tech companies on competition and privacy grounds.
As Barry Rosenstein, the managing partner of Jana, told David Gelles of the NYT:
“As more and more founders of the biggest tech companies are acknowledging today, the days of just throwing technology out there and washing your hands of the potential impact are over.”
The growing fear about tech addiction: Two former Facebook executives, Sean Parker and Chamath Palihapitiya, spoke last year about how the company hooks into users’ psyches. And Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, held a briefing on the issue. (Axios has more.)
One place you don’t yet see a problem: These companies’ stocks. Apple’s shares dipped only slightly yesterday, and its market capitalization is still just shy of $900 billion. Shares in Facebook, Alphabet and Twitter gained slightly.
Critics’ corner
• Shira Ovide writes, “When financial mercenaries start caring about the potential human harm of technology, Silicon Valley should be extremely nervous.” (Gadfly)
• Jennifer Saba writes of Jana’s campaign, “It’s an unusual issue for an activist, and apps from Facebook and Snap would make better targets.” (Breakingviews)
‘Oprah 2020’ has been good for Weight Watchers.
Shares in the weight-loss company, of which Ms. Winfrey owns 10 percent, jumped as much as 13 percent yesterday amid speculation that she may run for president.
Not everyone was as euphoric about the possibility. Here’s what Rebecca Katz, a Democratic strategist, told the NYT:
“Beating Trump isn’t just about finding the right candidate — we have to show what we stand for,” Ms. Katz said. “Other than ‘we all get a car,’ what will an Oprah presidency look like?” she added, referring to when Ms. Winfrey famously gave a car to every audience member at her show.
Will the tax law make U.S. companies stay, or go overseas?
It comes down to how they respond to the provision that taxes the income of overseas subsidiaries at half the domestic rate — even as Mr. Trump has promised to bring jobs back to struggling cities.
Companies have a new reason to move plants abroad, Natalie Kitroeff of the NYT reports:
“Having such a low rate on foreign income is outrageous,” said Stephen E. Shay, a senior lecturer at Harvard Law School and a Treasury Department official during the Reagan and Obama administrations. “It creates terrible incentives.”
The caveat: Some companies may want to stay, for America’s legal system and skilled workers. But big manufacturers like auto companies may be tempted to move anyway.
More in taxes
• Mr. Trump celebrated the passing of the tax overhaul in Nashville, where he overstated the size of the cuts. (NYT)
• Residents of high-tax states rushed to prepay their bills before deductions are capped, giving those areas a welcome, if brief, revenue boost. (Bloomberg)
The Washington flyaround
• Robert Mueller is likely to seek an interview with President Trump as part of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. (NYT)
• Meet the former WSJ reporter who founded Fusion GPS, the research firm whose work is central to the Russia investigations. (NYT)
• Good economic conditions tend to lift presidents’ approval ratings. Not this one’s. (NYT)
• Mr. Trump told farmers in Nashville that he wants to improve Nafta, but didn’t repeat his threats to withdraw. (WSJ)
• The hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer said he wouldn’t run for political office this year, but would give Democrats $30 million to fight fore House seats. (WaPo)
• The NYT reviewer found “Fire and Fury,” Michael Wolff’s book on the Trump White House, “fitting, if ultimately unsatisfying.” (NYT)
• Some Senate Republicans are quietly urging J.D. Vance, the investor and author of the book “Hillbilly Elegy,” to run against Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio. (Politico)
A setback for the White House’s coal plans.
Federal regulators blocked an Energy Department proposal to subsidize struggling coal and nuclear power plants. That raises questions about what else the Trump administration can do to prop up an industry that — even as pollution regulations loosen — is being battered by market forces.
More from Brad Plumer of the NYT:
Last year, utilities announced plans to shut down more than 22 gigawatts of coal capacity across the country, and more retirements are expected this year. Mr. Perry’s proposal was the most aggressive move yet in support of coal and nuclear power and would have shielded a number of plants in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic from those competitive forces.
The policy flyaround
• A Senate resolution to block the F.C.C.’s repeal of net neutrality rules has enough support to force a vote — but the House is unlikely to follow suit. (Axios)
• The Labor Department revived guidance on overtime regulations from the George W. Bush era. (WaPo)
Google memo author sues, claiming discrimination.
The plaintiff: James Damore, the engineer who gained fame when he was fired for criticizing Google’s diversity efforts and asserting that fewer women held engineering jobs because of biological differences.
His lawsuit: It claims that he and others were “ostracized, belittled and punished for their heterodox political views, and for the added sin of their birth circumstances of being Caucasians and/or males.” It also includes screenshots from internal company forums.
The context: Google is already responding to a lawsuit from four women asserting that it has systematically paid women less than men for the same work.
What’s happening at CES.
• AT&T has backed out of a long-awaited deal to sell Huawei phones in the U.S., according to unnamed sources. (WSJ)
• Intel’s C.E.O., Brian Krzanich, said there had been “no known exploits” compromising consumers’ information using two recently revealed chip security flaws. (Axios)
• Google, Amazon and Samsung are adding their virtual assistants to ever more devices, including — seriously — refrigerators.
• Advocates for women in technology say that CES must address its diversity problem. (Recode)
Questions about CES? Ask Brian Chen, the NYT’s personal tech columnist.
Speaking of gadgets
GoPro disappointed Wall Street yesterday morning when it cut its sales expectations for its fourth quarter, saying it would lay off more than 250 employees and stop making drones. Its founder and C.E.O., Nick Woodman, cut his cash salary to $1.
The company’s shares climbed back amid news reports that it had hired JPMorgan Chase to run a sales process. But Mr. Woodman eventually told Bloomberg that while JPMorgan is the company’s main bank, GoPro wasn’t actively looking to sell itself.
GoPro’s problem: It’s too dependent on its action cameras, according to Dan Gallagher of Heard on the Street.
Sign of a market top? Hedging is passé.
Some investors have apparently decided that protecting themselves against a decline in the markets is a waste of money, Gunjan Banerji of the WSJ reports:
“I haven’t seen hedging activity this light since the end of the financial crisis,” said Peter Cecchini, a New York-based chief market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald. “It started in late 2016 and accelerated in the second half of the year.”
At the same time, analysts have raised their forecasts for corporate profits as fast as they have in a decade. History suggests that might presage a slump.
Quote of the Day
“That’s made it the best penny stock and the worst currency in the world.”
— Matt O’Brien of the WaPo, writing about why Bitcoin is doing well as a speculative investment and terribly as a way to buy and sell things. (For what it’s worth, Jamie Dimon now regrets calling Bitcoin a “fraud,” though he’s still not interested in it.)
Or maybe it’s this, from the S.E.C.’s Fort Worth division:
The Speed Read
• Jack Ma said he would seriously consider listing Alibaba in Hong Kong, which is preparing to allow dual-class share listings. (Reuters)
• A website called coinmarketcap.com removed data from some South Korean exchanges from its price quotes on Monday, prompting drops in some popular cryptocurrencies. (WSJ)
• Saudi Aramco has invited banks pitching for roles in its listing, including Citi and Goldman Sachs, to go to the kingdom to make their case, according to three people familiar with the matter. (Reuters)
• The private equity group Rhône Capital has placed a binding offer to acquire Nestlé’s U.S. confectionary business, joining Ferrero and Hershey in the $2.5 billion race. (FT)
• Amazon’s rising share price brought Jeff Bezos’s net worth to $105.1 billion on Monday, beyond the high Bill Gates reached in 1999. (Bloomberg)
• The telecoms group Altice will spin off its U.S. business and restructure its European operations to address investor concerns about the group’s viability and debt-laden deals. (FT)
• The quantitative hedge fund industry is on the brink of surpassing $1 trillion in assets under management after an increase in automated investment. (FT)
• Investors are souring on meal-kit start-ups. They cite logistical hurdles, high costs for attracting and retaining customers and big-company competition. (WSJ)
• Aston Martin is targeting a valuation of as much as $6.8 billion in a potential initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter. (Bloomberg)
• An expensive, highly classified U.S. spy satellite is presumed lost after it failed to reach orbit on a SpaceX rocket on Sunday, according to industry and government officials. (WSJ)
• Banks are aggressively handing out leveraged loans to highly indebted companies, because the fees offer strong revenue growth when many of their traditional businesses are posting low returns. (Bloomberg)
We’d love your feedback as we experiment with the writing, format and design of this briefing. Please email thoughts and suggestions to bizday@nytimes.com.
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